The danger of what you learn first.

In terms of what your knowledge is I have found that there is an extreme disadvantage in what you learn first.

For example, you may hear something from someone, and believe it. Then someone else comes along with an opposing statement, your first instinct is probably to say what you heard first against the opposing statement.

Essentially what I'm getting at is that once you think something is true, it is hard to let go of that truth.

I can't think of something at present which would come to mind in modern times.

However you could go with old hunter-gatherer type people.

These people had VAST collections of knowledge, but not deep theories on why it works. They just simply knew that X plant is good for X negative effect...much like some people don't really know why aspirin helps you...they just know that something inside of it helps you.

So for a hunter gatherer, he might be told that x plant is good for curing a cough, but in reality it might not cause the cough to be better, previous evidence was coincidental.
Then he is told by someone as he is administering treatment that that plant doesn't cure a cough...he may just ignore it.

Or someone might tell you something other than aspirin is what you need to take...which could be true, however it could be false.

Well anyway these aren't extreme cases. But I just wanted a discussion on the topic of how a person's original thought can be detrimental to future thought.

Skepticism is important! But skepticism of your own thought is important as well. From an evolutionary standpoint, believing what you already believe is a good advantage, thus I don't find it odd that we do it.

Yes.

This is because the human mind is associative.

On a semi-related topic, the mind is superstitious. For example if you met lots of men who had beards, and they happened to be alcoholics, you may associate beards with alcoholism.

I just find it terribly sad the way the mind works.

That's called association.

It's a survival thing.

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Originally Posted by Seismosaur

That's called association.

It's a survival thing.

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More than one word can cover the same category....

Yes, it is a survival thing, like I noted at the end of my OP.

I'm not questioning it's existence or where it comes from, I'm simply saying that it is sad that it is there. And that it is important to note when dealing with conclusions.


This would be an example of what I stated in the OP. I said something, and you say it is something else merely because you have that in your mind first. Superstition - association.

Superstition is a more appropriate word however, because it is unreasonable to believe that men with beards have a drinking problem, while a scenario more worthy of association might be that men with beards scratch themselves often.

I guess.

Depends on how you define "Superstitious"-- Beleiving in bad luck, etc. Is the first thing that comes to mind for it.

See? More examples of association :P

Heh exactly association and superstition can go hand in hand.

Like for example...

There was an experiment with birds...well I wont get into the full details but he made an "association" which was "superstitious."

First there actually was an action that allowed food to drop (pressing a specific button out of the choice of three buttons).
Then they turned of the buttons and made it random drops of food.
The bird looked over his shoulder and then food came out. Then he looked over his should and food came out again, so the bird continued to look over his shoulder.

He had made an association between looking over his should and food coming out, however the superstition was the belief that when he looked over his shoulder food would come.

Ah I see.

Yes that makes sense.

I don't think disadvantage is the right word, since most people pretty much get an equal portion of useful knowledge and useless knowledge, on the average. I'd say the disadvantage comes when someone doesn't learn how to sort them out.

You just finished reading 'Unweaving the Rainbow' didn't you? Chapter 7 is all about this phenomenon.

A perfect example of this are Cargo Cults. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

Primitive tribes see soldiers unloading supplies from airplanes, then walk around with carved wooden guns and paint USA on their chests in an effort to attract more cargo planes.

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Originally Posted by Sandform

In terms of what your knowledge is I have found that there is an extreme disadvantage in what you learn first.

For example, you may hear something from someone, and believe it. Then someone else comes along with an opposing statement, your first instinct is probably to say what you heard first against the opposing statement.

Essentially what I'm getting at is that once you think something is true, it is hard to let go of that truth.

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Each is born into the world knowing nothing.

Every bit of "knowing" is spoon fed from birth by others already here

Others, who they themselves were also spoon fed since birth

No one decided for themselves

Religion, God, polotics, ethnicity, right/wrong, etc etc, all spoon fed

Letting go of such things can be a monumental task

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Originally Posted by Alextanium

You just finished reading 'Unweaving the Rainbow' didn't you? Chapter 7 is all about this phenomenon.

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Actually no, is it a good book? I have heard the name before, but beyond that I don't have much information.

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Originally Posted by The Cusp

A perfect example of this are Cargo Cults. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

Primitive tribes see soldiers unloading supplies from airplanes, then walk around with carved wooden guns and paint USA on their chests in an effort to attract more cargo planes.

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That is just soooo sad =(.

I think we are not so much very likely to believe what we heard first, but things we hear from people we hold in high value, like our parents, family, friends, favourite politicians, preachers/monks, spiritual gurus...etc.

I think we usually more tend to believe what we WANT to believe. Like a bigscale wishfull thinking. We believe certain theories and beliefs of others who in our eyes seem wise, moral and responsible and discard views of people who in our eyes are ludacris, immoral and irresponsible. People make these judgements of how credible someone is using associations resulting in bigtime prejudice.

This is the reason why it is so that many people still actually BELIEVE that Marijuana and Mushrooms will make Holes in your brain, allthough this has long been proven an encriminating, bold lie. They find people who preach sobriety and opress and condemn the use of Marijuana & Mushrooms and find them and their lies more credible than People who smoke Marijuana, eat mushrooms or both, because in their mind they've made an association between Marijuana, Mushrooms and Negative traits of people: This may be of a couple of personal experiences with Marijuana users, or marijuana intoxication that has been negative and has since colored their judgement of it negatively.


Judgementality: The worst habbit of mankind. Judge Judge Judge.Condemn Condemn Condemn. Because of this overjudgement, we are at war and in hostile forms of debate with eachother about allmost every human issue imaginable.
Just because most people refuse to think outside of themselves. Using the example of Marijuana I gave before;

When people have but one or two personal bad experience on Marijuana or with people on Marijuana, they are VERY quick to make their judgement on all of marijuana and anything related. Evenbthough for THEM this may indeed be true, they often forget that for others quite the opposite might be true and that THEIR truth is no GENERAL, one-and-only- truth. With this distorted view of Reality they go preaching to others how Bad Marijuana is, not taking into account that they are disrespecting other people's truths and intolerantly stamping these people out of social acceptability by making large encriminating wars on peacefull tokers and magical farmers.

This fatally flawed way of viewing reality is even pushing many 1000ds of truely innocent people into jail for many many years.
This is the mentality that has taken over and is screwing up everything beloved in this world today.

!!!! Mary Jane is bad you know that...she's a slut.

=P

Your right. People have such bad closed standards.

i thoroughly enjoyed reading what you all have to say, and really NonDualistic is right, letting go of such things is a monumental task. it's basically like yoda telling luke to unlearn that which he has learned.

really allows for a much happier peaceful lifestyle.